Typically, when you create a virtual disk on an NFS datastore, the NAS server determines the allocation policy. The default allocation policy on most NAS servers is thin and does not guarantee backing storage to the file. However, the reserve space operation can instruct the NAS device to use vendor-specific mechanisms to reserve space for a virtual disk. As a result, you can create thick virtual disks on the NFS datastore.

Native Snapshot Support. Allows creation of virtual machine snapshots to be offloaded to the array.

Extended Statistics. Enables visibility to space usage on NAS devices and is useful for Thin Provisioning.

With NAS storage devices, the hardware acceleration integration is implemented through vendor-specific NAS plug-ins. These plug-ins are typically created by vendors and are distributed as VIB packages through a web page. No claim rules are required for the NAS plug-ins to function.

There are several tools available for installing and upgrading VIB packages. They include the esxcli commands and vSphere Update Manager. For more information, see the vSphere Upgrade and Installing and Administering VMware vSphere Update Manager documentation.